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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. prune — to trim
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. rash — hasty
  8. saw — the tool
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. charge — electricity
  13. charge — in control
  14. chair — a leader
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. wind — moving air
  19. saw — the tool
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. rash — a series
  22. charge — a price
  23. cold — not warm
  24. lash — a whip stroke

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com